Assigning Your App an Appropriate Rating

A: Apple has gotten really strict about assigning appropriate ratings. There are two common tabs in particular that seem to trigger this rejection: the YouTube tab and the Fan Wall.

Q: Why are they rejecting my app for having these tabs?

A1: YouTube tab: When you can access a YouTube channel through an app, Apple views this as allowing filtered access to all of YouTube, which contains inappropriate material for users under the age of 12. For this reason, Apple wants all apps containing YouTube videos to have a 12+ rating.

A2: Fan Wall: Apple requires apps that allow communication between users to have a moderation system in place. We allow you to moderate manually in the back end, but this is not apparent to Apple. We generally recommend deactivating this tab all together.

Q: How do I prevent my app from being rejected for?

A: You have two options here:

Deactivate the tab all together and reactivate it once the app has been approved (recommended for Fan Wall)

Assign the tab an appropriate rating (12+ for YouTube)

Q: My app has been rejected for an inappropriate rating. What now?

A1: You can update the app’s rating directly through your iTunes Connect account:

Log into your iTunes Connect account and select My Apps

Find the app and click to open

Scroll down to the General App Information and click Edit to change rating

A pop-up window will display asking a series of questions. Unfortunately there is no category for filtered access to the internet, so we usually recommend selecting Infrequent/Mild Realistic Violence and Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes to give it a 12+ rating

Make sure to save before resubmitting to your iTunes Connect account. For instructions on how to resubmit, please see here.